Angela Capinera, of Stratford, gazes at the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. Looking also is her son Adam Ruskin, 5. The skeleton was a gift from the University of Wisconsin. less

Angela Capinera, of Stratford, gazes at the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. Looking also is her son Adam Ruskin, 5. ... more

P.T. Barnum, of Exeter, RI, who is a distant relative of P.T. Barnum, poses in front of the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a gift from the University of Wisconsin. less

P.T. Barnum, of Exeter, RI, who is a distant relative of P.T. Barnum, poses in front of the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April ... more

Spectators get their first glimpse of the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a gift from the University of Wisconsin. less

Spectators get their first glimpse of the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a gift from the ... more

P.T. Barnum, of Exeter, RI, who is a distant relative of P.T. Barnum, left, chats with Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, at the unveiling of the Centaur of Tymfi at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a gift from the University of Wisconsin. In center is museum supporter Sylvia Doyl. less

P.T. Barnum, of Exeter, RI, who is a distant relative of P.T. Barnum, left, chats with Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, at the unveiling of the Centaur of Tymfi at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, ... more

Barnum Museum Executive Director Kathleen Maher talks about the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a gift from the University of Wisconsin. less

Barnum Museum Executive Director Kathleen Maher talks about the Centaur of Tymfi which was unveiled and on display for the public at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Conn. on April 1, 2014. The skeleton was a ... more

"We're not here to convince you of anything," Maher said at an afternoon news conference. "You'll need to make up your own mind. We have no answers ... but there is nothing more Barnum-esque than this ... This is right out of P.T. Barnum's playbook."

As Maher pointed out, Barnum, a 19th-century master showman and Bridgeport mayor, loved humbugs -- as jokes and hoaxes were called then.

Barnum featured many humbugs at his Museum of Curiosities in New York City in the 1840s, including the world-famous Feejee Mermaid, a creature that appeared to be half monkey, half fish.

"This is as exciting as the Final Four," Bellantoni said, referring to the UConn men and women both playing on college basketball's grandest stage this year.

But before jumping to any conclusions, it is best to remember that Tuesday was April 1 -- observed in many cultures as All Fools' Day -- an occasion to play good-natured, practical jokes.

Amid all the frivolity at the museum -- and a transcript filled with "maybe," "perhaps," "possibly" and "could be" -- Bellantoni said carbon dating of the bones "might" indicate the specimen is about 3,000 years old. That's yet to be done, however.

One of the deep thinkers present to lend insight into the day's proceedings was Gregg Dancho, director of Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo and master of all creatures great and small.

Not to be outdone by the unveiled beast, Dancho said, "Yes, we have one, too. In our basement at the zoo. His name is Bart and we do not let visitors see him because we do not want to scare them."

In an earlier announcement, the museum said, "Professor William Willers, a zoologist and professor of anatomy at the University of Wisconsin, acquired the specimen in 2004 for the university after he was approached by members of the Archaeological Society about conducting further research on the specimen to authenticate it.

"Willers, now retired from the university, states that the investigation remained `inconclusive' and recommended that it go to the Barnum Museum, where experts from Quinnipiac University's Bioanthropology Research Institute and ... Bellantoni would be able to continue the investigation using new technologies.

"The Barnum Museum, recognizing the significance of this `rare' find, agreed to accept the specimen so the investigation could continue" -- all the while sharing it with the public."

Here's what we do know:

The fossilized bones resemble a creature that is half human, half horse -- a centaur, something considered a myth for eons -- and now, it resides at the Barnum Museum for all to see.

The museum received the curious specimen with the following provenance:

"The Centaur of Tymfi is the best-preserved specimen of record due to preservation within a cool, dry cave at 1,900 meters elevation in the Tymfi Mountains of northwestern Greece. There were no other objects in the cave to indicate details of the creature's history. The specimen was reported to the Archaeological Society of Argos Orestiko in 1998 and removed in 2003 to the Society's laboratory in Volos where osteologists, under the direction of Achilles Mitropoulus, the Society's director, assembled the specimen in the upright pose."

Quinnipiac professors Gerald Conlogue, Robert Lombardo and William Hennessey, along with several students from the medical imaging program, worked together recently to create a huge X-ray of the entire specimen. They were also present to discuss the technical challenges in recording its size at 84 inches long and 60 inches high.

Dancho said the find would have to be given an official name.

"Perhaps `equine humanus' or `humanus equine,' but I don't want to put the cart before the horse," he quipped.

Maher said Barnum believed that museums were meant "to stimulate thinking and engage the community. And that's what we are doing today."

Most at the news conference seemed to believe that the specimen is a great big humbug, but so what?

As Barnum reportedly said in 1891: "The noblest art is that of making others happy."